Monday, February 16, 2009

A fire... down the road

Here's Tom's description of the events of Sunday afternoon, February 15:Turns out we really are in the thick of it. I was cooking on the barby, and Brigitte was sending some email pics-dial up, so we weren't listening for phone calls.

One neighbour, came by to say that there was currently a fire 2 km away, at the bottom of the hill towards Belgrave. His wife and kids were going to leave and he would stay. We decided to pack a bag, with our passports, and get ready to go. Our other neighbour, came by to say 'No worries', the wind was blowing the fire toward the Ferny Creek Primary School, in a slightly different direction away from us. So now what? One neighbour says staying is a possibility, one says his family is going.

All roads except one were closed.

I started filling buckets and 2 wheelbarrows with water. This took ten minutes, as we had to hook up the hose. All the while, helicopters flew overhead.

We decided to eat supper, as this might be our last meal-not thinking we would burn, but that we might not have a stove and a fridge to cook a hot meal.

We had a toast of chilled white wine-Australian, and as we were clearing up, both neighbours came by to say the fire had been downgraded.

We listened to one of the ABC channels, devoted mainly to fire news when the fire event is urgent, still with our one bag by the door, but the crisis was over.

I still worried about embers flying over, and tried to watch T.V., with one eye to the sky, but I just could not relax.

The stress made me dog-tired, and I went to bed.

More from Brigitte:

ABC is doing a wonderful job of using one of its radio channels to provide information for fire-affected areas and people. Announcements are read every 15 to 30 minutes, so you know what's up for your area. The CFA also has a web site that is constantly updated. It's one thing to have your radio on constantly, but when you need it, it's an excellent resource (this is one of the recommendations that came from the last huge fires, that there needed to be a way to inform the public of the danger/threat.)

The scoop is that this fire likely was lit by someone... forensics are at the scene figuring things out. Yesterday was relatively cool (approx. 26 C), with winds that were manageable with regard to fighting a bush fire, and the fire authority had enough resources available to throw a lot of firefighting power at this fire -- in all, 26 "appliances" were available to fight the fire, including people, trucks, and helicopters. A lot of helicopters were flying overhead. (One helicopter is called "Elvis" -- I've been asking why but don't have a coherent response yet; This paticular unit has a large appendage dangling from it, used to suck up water ?? Was Elvis supposedly well endowed?) All neighbours were on the threat after the siren went off -- they came to tell us. Two people phoned us to let us know of the danger. Our decision was to go as soon as there was an immediate threat to our particular area, up the hill to a town called Sassafras, and we could head down from there.

Rob asked me about my thoughts about the article from The Australian... We haven't been here one month, so all I can do for now is listen to what I'm hearing around me. I have been listening to the radio a lot, and reading a variety of articles in The Age and other newspapers. It is the interface here between people and nature that is being discussed. This is where you want to be, of course. Why wouldn't you want to live in hills with exotic birds, with temperatures at least 5C lower than down at the bottom, with gorgeous plant life all around (pics are coming, I promise!), and with fabulous, generous and thoughtful neighbours? People have had homes and cottages and homes here for at least 100 years, and now there are many communities (suburbs of urban Melbourne) that are spreading out. This is idyllic at many levels. What happened was like that "perfect storm" we've read about -- extreme temps, high winds, sudden fire events. And the CFA were there, but it was stronger than they had experienced.

I read that the Aboriginal people of Australia used winter and autumn fires to control the threat of huge summer bush fires by burning off a lot of the underbrush. I don't know what the historic data are regarding drought, but Australia is still in a serious drought situation, so the hills, the fields, and the cities are dry. One small smark can create a conflagration. Probably there will be new building codes, new requirements for bunkers to be built, new code for reducing the amounts of trees close to houses. This doesn't bring back the people who were lost last weekend.

The "experts" are saying this interface of a larger population, drought and dry landscape and trees is what created the gigantic fires. There will be a royal commission to see what happened, and to find new ways of living safely in this beautiful and awesome place. If people and communities have the money, certainly new ways of building and preparing will have to be part of the plan.

We were certainly not prepared for what we experienced last night -- I think we have been living in a bit of a bubble, given that we are still settling in. However, everyone got involved, we were given information that was useful, and we are now more prepared. No people were hurt in the fire, although approximately 14 hectares burned. It's a blessing that the CFA had available resources (the other fires are in a controlled state, relatively speaking), and they threw what they had at this fire.

People at the school this morning talked about their experiences -- some had to put out embers; others left; others were happy to eat out somewhere while they waited to hear. Everyone was talking about it, and you can feel there is anxiety in our minds. It's now much more real to us.

4 comments:

I kept thinking what a great adventure your trip would be. Now I keep hoping that it doesn't turn into a big adventure. It does sound like you are being well cared for by the neighbours which is good. We appreciate these updates.

Thanks for the update. It reminded me of the Okanagan fires of 2003. The biggest risk in then was the interface zone too. The attraction of living in the urban edge is understandable, but none of the natural burns or managed processes of control burns can be tolerated in these developed areas. Take care...

Snow Days

Back in Canada

Date and Ginger Oaties

I've mentioned the date and ginger cookies by the Byron Bay Cookie Co. I'm still looking for their recipe, but have been experimenting with a few of my own, and have found a fig and ginger recipe that can be adapted and gets quite close to the Byron Bay original!

Sift flour into bowl, stir in oats, coconut, sugar, dates and ginger. Combine butter and golden syrup and water in pan, stir over low heat (or use microwave) until the butter is melted. Stir hot bubbling mixture into the flour mixture.

Shape 2 level tsps of mixture into a ball, place onto greased (or use paper) oven tray. Flatten slightly. Allow about 5 cm between cookies. Bake in moderately hot oven (180/350ish or a bit hotter) for 12 - 15 minutes (depends on size of cookie) or until slightly browned.

Lay the sliced oranges on a platter and scatter over some of the radish, sliced thinly. Grate the remaining radishes and mix with the carrot.

Mix olive oil, cumin, cinnamon, orange blossom water and lemon juice, and season with salt. If you can't get the orange blossom water, just leave it out... I have tasted a salad with it as a dressing and it's amazing, but don't stress about finding it if it isn't easily available. Pour the dressing over the grated carrots and refrigerate for 15 minutes. To serve, pile carrot and radish mix on top of the orange and radish slices, and dust with a little cinnamon.

Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat and add the laksa paste, stirring occasionally for 2 min. Add the sugar and cook until dissolved. Add the coconut milk, chicken stock and kaffir lime leaves and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the lime juice, fish sauce, chicken slices and prawns (add prawns later if you wish), and getnly poach them until just cooked.

Drain the rice noodles. Divide the noodles, tofu and bean sprouts among four large bowls and ladle over the soup, chicken and prawns. Top with shallots and coriander leaves.

Spring Flowers

Suzannah Espie

Parrot Visitor

Singer Alex Lloyd

Pennywhistle by Augie March

Orange and Almond Cake

Ingredients1 large orange3 eggs1 heaped cup castor sugar1/2 tsp baking powder (increase if not using s.r. flour)1 cup almond meal1/3 cup S.R. flour (the brand used in the original recipe is gluten-free, I think)

Method1. Place orange in saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook 1 hour or until orange is very soft. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove seeds from orange and place in food processor/blender. Blend orange, including skin, until smooth. Cool.2. Preheat oven -- 180 - 200 C.3. Grease and line 20 cm springform pan with baking paper.4. Beat eggs, sugar and baking powder until thick and pale.5. Mix orange pulp into egg mix.6. Whisk flour and almond meal together and fold into egg and orange mixture.7. Pour into prepared tin.8. Bake 45 minutes. Insert skewer into centre of cake to ensure cake is cooked. This cake is slightly moist when finished.9. Cool cake in oven. (Turn oven off first!)From Dianne Boyle.

1. Heat oven to 180C. Roast beetroot in oven on baking tray for 35 minutes or until tender. (I did not wrap in foil.) Cool when finished, peel skin, and cut into wedges.2. To make dressing, combine oil, vinegar and brown sugar. I didn't have red wine vinegar so I used a sweetish red wine we have in the house and combined it with the oil, and some white wine vinegar. Season with cracked pepper and salt.3. Place beetroot in large bowl. Drizzle with dressing and marinate if you have time. Add the spinach and gently toss to combine. Serve sprinkled with goat's cheese and walnuts.

Adapted from taste.com.au

Cate's Scones

We are in the final throes of winter. The following scone recipe is courtesy of Cate, our neighbour.

Method1. Set oven at 220 C.2. Rub butter into flour and salt, using the fingertips.3. Mix into a soft dough with milk. Add a little milk if required.4. Turn on to a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic.5. Roll out 2 cm thick and cut into shapes.6. Arrange on oven tray and glaze tips with milk.7. Bake at 220 C for 10 - 15 min.

Ned Kelly helmet

Anzac Biscuits

Method:1. Mix oats, flour, sugar and coconut together.2. Melt syrup and butter together.3. Mix soda with boiling water and add to melted butter and syrup.4. Add to dry ingredients.5. Place teaspoons of mixture well spaced on a greased baking tray.6. Bake in a slow oven for 12 - 15 minutes at 180C.

Watch them. Every oven is different and they can dry out quickly. Makes up to 50 (small, obviously; we got about 25 biscuits out of this recipe).

Passionfruit buttercake

125 g butter, melted300 g (2 cups) self raising flour (or add 1.5 tsp baking powder)1/3 cup buttermilk2 eggs, lightly beaten1 cup sugar1 tsp lemon zest2 passionfruit, to serve1 cup icing sugar, to serve1. Preheat oven to 175C. Grease and line a loaf pan. Place the butter, flour, buttermilk, eggs, sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl. Using hand beaters (or a wooden spoon), mix until well combined.2. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 45 - 50 min or until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Cool in the pan for 5 min then transfer to a wire rack. To serve, remove the pulp from the passionfruit and place in a small bowl. Add the icing sugar and stir to combine until the mixture forms a smooth paste. Drizzle passionfruit mixture over the cake.

If you can't find passionfruit, use the juice and pulp of any tart fruit you love.ENJOY. Adapted from a recipe in the Herald Sun's taste.com.au, May 6, 2009.

Tom Roberts

Spring Sale and Open House - May 9

Rosalie Gascoigne

black bird box 1976

Book and Music List

"it's raining in Mango" by Thea Astley. Bought it used in Nimbin. The guy selling books couldn't help me out when I asked about it. A nice surprise. Traces 5 generations of a family with Irish and Canadian roots in northern Queensland.

Ruth Parks: "Missus", "The Harp in the South", and "Poor Man's Orange". Set in country Aus and on to Sydney. Follows an economically (and socially) deprived family over several generations. It's pathetic at a basic level, but inspiring to see how certain individuals try to escape their status.

"The Castle" and "Crackerjack" -- 2 sweet little Aussie movies. In "The Castle", a man fights a powerful corporation from taking over his house to enlarge the airport acquisition. "Crackerjack" is about the members of a lawn bowling club and their fight to save the club without resorting to the pokies.

the waddi tree by Kerry McGinnis (author of The Road to Coorain) -- an authentic account of growing up in the outback in the 1950s/60s